No. 14 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets vs. No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
It took a Hail Mary, of sorts, for Notre Dame sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer to help the Fighting Irish knock off Virginia in a week two win. Kizer came in for Malik Zaire when the starter injured his ankle and has since been pronounced done for the year.
Notre Dame’s schedule is littered with solid opponents and the next one in line happens to be the run-first Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. As a sleeper pick to win the ACC this season, Paul Johnson’s team is 2-0 and looking to pull a big road upset in week three.
Details for Saturday’s game are below:
Date: Sept. 19
Start Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Notre Dame, IN
Stadium: Notre Dame Stadium
TV Info: NBC
Live Stream: WatchESPN app
Radio: For the Georgia Tech radio affiliate, click here. For the Notre Dame radio affiliate, click here.
Ticket Information: For Georgia Tech ticket info, click here. For Notre Dame ticket info, click here.
Keys to Victory
DeShone Kizer will be looked at to make big plays all day long and that shouldn’t be an issue seeing as he came out of high school as one of the top players in the nation last year. Kizer has a very strong arm in which he showed in a 34-27 victory over Virginia. He finished with 92 yards and two touchdowns while completing 8-of-13 passes.
If Kizer can get the job done at the QB position, the Fighting Irish will be in solid position to win. He will have help from junior receiver Will Fuller, who’s having a career year, and senior running back C.J. Prosise. The defense will need to step up big-time, especially against the Georgia Tech run.
As for the Yellow Jackets, their rushing attack is ranked No. 1 in the nation, racking up about 458 yards on the ground per contest. Georgia Tech’s defense has also been playing great, allowing a total of 16 points through two games and giving up just 260 total yards per week.
Justin Thomas is the unquestioned leader of this offense, but the junior quarterback is very lightly-used. He has attempted just 13 passes all season, completing 10 of those for 151 yards and three touchdowns. Thomas has also rushed for another two.
If Georgia Tech plans on winning this one on the road, it’ll need to get the ball in the hands of Marcus Marshall and Patrick Skov. Marshall leads the team with 221 yards and two touchdowns on over 15 yards per carry while Skov leads the team in carries and is second in yards with 122, but leads in touchdowns with four.
Betting Odds
Point Spread: Georgia Tech -2.5
Moneyline: Georgia Tech -115, Notre Dame -105
O/U: 54.5
Prediction
I think Kizer will have a much better first start than many people think. Georgia Tech’s secondary is stingy, but Fuller has the route-running ability to break free for a couple of big gains.
Georgia Tech’s run game won’t be totally halted, but it won’t run wild like it had already against its first two opponents. Notre Dame is at home, and that’s the only reason I think this one goes to the Irish. If this is on a neutral field, I think it’s a Yellow Jacket win.
Final: Georgia Tech 24, Notre Dame 27
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